Should I have the Spinal Cord Stimulator? Looking for reviews on this

@mrsr1234 I understand where you are coming from. Remember, there are no guarantees for any medical procedure. Consider doing the trial, which does not require any hardware to be permanently implanted. It will give you an idea whether the device will help you. Check out the Boston Scientific Waveriter. It is the top rated SCS. I wish you well in your pain journey.

I had good success with the Medtronic SCS. It reduced my pain by about 60-70%. Unfortunately, the implanted paddle lead shorted out and it stopped working after about three years. I wish you well.

@katherinew66 I had one put in by Boston Logistics. They tried 7 programs within a 3 month period and nothing helped me. My doctor removed it. Still on Norco. You are very lucky to have 70% of pain gone. I would have settled with 50%! I have talked to others who have it with success. I really had my hopes up.

The Medtronic spine stimulator is called inceptive .they just came out with it in 2024. It was a lot of trouble putting it in and I had fear that it wasn’t going to work. I had a friend who got one in 2025 and it really worked for her. She coached me through the operation. Inceptive uses AI. To program your pain, relief.
I’m sorry that your stimulator was not successful. They keep coming up with new ideas.

I read where failure rates were between 30-50%.
My trial with Boston Scientific in October went well so I said “bring it on. “
I had my Boston Scientific SCS implanted last December and it caused me more pain than I’d had before so I had it removed a week ago. I’m having much less pain now. I’m going to focus on PT, strength training, walking, and maybe a pain psychologist. I just want to get fit again and see where everything falls after that. I’m 73. Good luck to all. My experience doesn’t mirror everyone’s but removal was the right decision for me.

@denman55 I'm in the same boat as you after fighting with ilio inguinal pain for 4 years it's so debilitating the only option I have now is a spinal cord stimulator which I'm scheduled for in a couple of weeks I just have to have faith in my doctor and not get too anxious over some of the horror stories. Different people have different outcomes I just hope one of the lucky ones that gets at least 50%, 30%

@pen55
Have you discussed a pain pump with your doctor? It will pump opiates into your spine and this does not affect your brain, only your spine. I have had a pump since 2015. I hear horror stories about spinal cord stimulators not working and having to be removed (yet another surgery). The pump requires maintenance as it must be refilled with medication about every three to four months. This requires an injection, but Lidocaine can be injected first to reduce discomfort. I have severe scoliosis and spinal stenosis. without my pump I would be in a wheelchair. The pump I have is from Medtronics. It might be worth looking into.

@calofmichigan

A friend who has the Bos Sci unit and swears by it had this to say.

"" My spin regarding the individuals who experience poor result via ScS is most likely that they - the patient - failed to fully "follow the recovery time-line", thus, dislocated the electrodes. Staying mostly immobile for 6 weeks "ain't easy" - especially for an active individual. NO twisting/turning/bending/lifting . . . THAT was hard duty!""

If you dislodge the electrode it aint gonna help. I doubt that I can be that disciplined for 6 weeks tho I'm not sure/convinced that SCS is right for me.